As the power of processing devices exponentially increases, high bandwidth communication links interconnecting these processing devices are increasingly important. Optical media or carriers are capable of providing such high bandwidth communication links. To utilize optical carriers, optical-electrical interfaces are needed to interface the optical realm of the carrier with the electrical realm of the processing devices.
Typically, a waveguide device is used to couple light to and from optoelectronic dies. One type of optical-electrical interface uses a waveguide embedded within a substrate having a multi-terminal (“MT”) connector to form a make and break connection with an external waveguide. The substrate may support a variety of electrical devices that interface with the embedded waveguide via an optoelectronic die. The optoelectronic die is electrically coupled to the substrate while at the same time carefully positioned to optically align with micro-mirrors integrated into the end of the embedded waveguide. These optical-electrical interfaces are generally manufactured using distinct components, which are fabricated separately, and cumbersomely assembled.
In known optical-electrical interfaces, such as the one described above, the drive and receiver circuitry are spatially separated from their respective optoelectronic devices. Typically laser drivers use a 50 ohm termination to drive the optical components through a transmission line. This is unfortunate since terminating the laser drivers with such resistance increases the power consumption significantly and should ideally be avoided for power efficient practical optical interconnect systems.
Further, such systems use active alignment techniques to obtain the necessary alignment precision. Active alignment entails manually aligning the optoelectronic die with the embedded waveguide while the optical-electrical interface is stimulated and observed with a photodetector or microscope for sufficient alignment. Manual active alignment is people intensive and does not lend itself well to high volume manufacturing (“HVM”).